Arrest of Mladic Brings Serbia a Step Closer to EU

27 May 2011

Left, General Radko Mladic of the Bosinian Serb army in 1993, and, right, in Belgrade after his arrest this week.

This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.

This week, Serbia arrested one of Europe's most wanted men. Former Bosnian Serb general Ratko Mladic spent sixteen years in hiding. He is accused of genocide and other crimes during the war fought after Bosnia-Herzegovina declared its independence.

The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia announced charges against Mr. Mladic in nineteen ninety-five. He is charged with the killing of eight thousand Bosnian Muslim men and boys that year at Srebrenica, a town on the border of Serbia. Srebrenica was supposed to have been protected as a United Nations "safe area."

Mr. Mladic is also accused of ordering or carrying out war crimes during the three years in which Sarajevo was surrounded and attacked.

His son, Darko Mladic, says his father is not in good health. He also says his father believes he is not guilty of the charges. But on Friday, a court in Belgrade ruled that Ratko Mladic is healthy enough to be tried in the Netherlands. His lawyer said he would appeal the ruling.

Russia, an ally of Serbia, has called for a fair trial.

The capture of Mr. Mladic was a condition for Serbia to become a candidate to join the European Union. Another condition has been the capture of former Croatian Serb political leader Goran Hadzic, who has yet to be arrested.